Caste in Jewellery Making

Caste in the Crafts

Does it matter?

Even though India is moving from a caste to a class-based society, caste is what artisan communities identify with.

Three artisan couples: 1. A blacksmith and his wife, both carrying the tools of their trade. 2. A carpenter and his wife, both carrying the tools of their trade. 3. A goldsmith and his wife, both carrying the tools of their trade.

Three Brahmin Couples. 1830. Tanjore. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Vishwakarma

Fashioner of all Ornaments

The deity from whom all karigars, artisans, achaaris, goldsmiths, blacksmiths, temple architects, weavers and creators claim descent.

Vishwakarma Story

“See, Vishwakarma and his sons worked together on creating the universe,” said Nakulbhai, a smile bright on his face as he started in on one of the many stories he tells about the Hindu god of artisans and his descendants.

“After this, Vishwakarma was given gifts as payment. Each of his sons went to him and he gave each one a bowl of rice. They were disappointed. They thought, ‘We did so much work, the universe is so beautiful. And this bowl of rice is all we’ve received from our father.'”

From “Narrating Creative Process,” by Kirin Narayan

A Hindu bangle-seller with his wife and child. Trichy. 19th century.

A bangle-seller and his wife. 19th century. Tanjore.

Vishwakarma

Description from the Mahabharata

“Vishwakarma, Lord of the arts, executor of a thousand handicrafts, carpenter of the gods, the most eminent of artisans, the fashioner of all jewels, first among craftsmen by whose art men live, and whom, a great and deathless god they continuously worship.”

From the Mahabharata

Goldsmiths in Tamilnadu

Kammalar, Achaari, Thattan, Vishwakarma

Kammalar is a generic term that comprises the communities of Kannar (brass-workers), Kollar (blacksmiths), Tattar (goldsmiths), Tatchar (carpenters) and Kartatchar (sculptors).

Achari/Achary (ஆச்சாரி in tamil) is the term used by members of the Vishwakarma community native to the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala in India.

A glass-bangle-seller and his wife. 19th century, Tanjore.

Painting. Goldsmith and his wife. Tanjore. 1805. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The Indian Craftsman

by Ananda Coomaraswamy

“The Indian craftsman conceives of his art, not as the accumulated skill of ages, but as originating in the divine skill of Visvakarma, and revealed by him. Beauty, rhythm, proportion, idea have an absolute existence on an ideal plane, where all who seek may find. The reality of things exists in the mind, not in the detail of their appearance to the eye. Their inward inspiration upon which the Indian artist is taught to rely, appearing like the still small voice of a god, that god was conceived of as Visvakarma.”

Description of Vishwakarma

He has four hands, wears a crown, loads of gold jewelry, and holds a water-pot, a book, a noose and craftsman’s tools in his hands.

All over India, jewellers and goldsmiths identify with and belong to very specific regional castes that have its own idom, language and making techniques.

But they all identify with Vishwakarma.